Team USA GM Poile apologizes to Senators' Ryan for comments

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TSN.ca Staff1/3/2014 10:55:03 AM

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The day after Bobby Ryan reacted to negative comments made by Brian Burke in an article that was written about the process of choosing the U.S. Olympic team, the team's general manager David Poile offered a public apology to the Ottawa Senators forward, who was left off the team.

"I'm trying right now to apologize to Bobby Ryan," said Poile during a conference call on Friday. "If it was said about me, I would be upset. Denigrating any player is not what anyone signed up for."

Poile, who said he has spoken with Senators' general manager Bryan Murray about the situation, also revealed Friday that when the management team made their final selections, Ryan was on Burke's roster.

In a feature posted Wednesday by ESPN.com's Scott Burnside chronicling the five-month process, Burke was quoted as saying, "He's (Ryan) a passive guy. He is not intense. That word is not in his vocabulary. It's never going to be in his vocabulary. He can't spell intense."

Ryan addressed the comments after the team's morning skate on Thursday.

"It was kinda gutless," Ryan told a scrum of reporters. "I almost feel degraded when it comes out like that. It is what it is - that's their decision and that's how they feel about me."

Burke, who drafted Ryan second overall when he was the general manager with the Anaheim Ducks, also praised Ryan's ability as a game-breaker in the meetings, saying that while candidates Max Pacioretty and Brandon Saad were both better 60-minute players, "neither can do what Bobby can do."

Ryan said Thursday that Burke tried to contact him on Wednesday, but he hasn't called back.